Burial vault



Mgy 12,1936. w. w. HAAsE BURIAL VAULT `Filed Fb. '7,` 1934 '555.155 Ffh.;

Patented May 12., 1936 [UNITED STATES 2,040,122; u ausm. vAUL'r Wilbert w. nasse, Forest Park, m.. minucito Wilbert W. Haase Co., Forest Park, lili, a oorporation of Illinois Application February 7, 1934, Serial No. 710,139

l s cinms.V 'rms invention relates to a burial vit and' has for an important object the provision of such a cdevice of increased eiiiciency, strength,

and portability.

Other objects such as the improved utility, economy and emciency of construction and operation will be apparent as the invention is better understood from-the following description, which, taken in connection with the accompanying dilr'awing. discloses a preferred embodiment there- Referring to the drawing; a

Figure 1 is a plan view 'of a device embodying my invention.

i Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken substantially on 1 ine2-2, Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a similar sectional view illustrating avault cover supported upon a plain surface in accordance with my invention, and;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view taken substantially on line 4 1, Fig. l, and showingthel vault parts slightly separated.

To illustrate the'invention I have shown a vault of the typel shown and described in my earlier i Letters ,Patent of the United States, Number 1,839,149, issued December 2 9, 193i, for 'Burial vault, and including 'a base part Il, and a cover paren. N

While the vault parts ii and i2 shown are laminated or double walled structures, it will be, noted that the composition or the laminated structure of the parts forms no part present linvention.

In practice burial valuts include a base part; i similar in many details to the base part Il, and a cover part, likewise similar to the cover part I2, and these parts are separable and provided lwith suitable abutting edge or junctional forma# tions whereby asealed joint'is formed upon 'as' j sembly for sealing the vault to preserve the contents thereof.. Such a joint is formed in the vault illustrated by a surfaceor edge portion 2li and a tongue 2l formed at the margin or upper edge of thebase part il, andato engage a surface or s edge portion 22 and a corresponding groove or recess 23 in the cover part i2, which edge portion and tongue and groove form an interlocking and of theimportant that are separated, particularly this portion ofthe cover part, and to laccomplish this 'a suitable support means ise'xtended from the cover i2, such as a support device 2t, for supporting the cover so that the abutting edge portion thereof can not come in contact with a supporting surface, suchas the surface l25 of a plate 2l illustrated (Fig. 3).. i

Inthe present embodiment the SulJDOrt device 24 iscontinuous .or extended-to form a continuous 5 web and a surface 21 of the web or support serves to register or locate the cover as an lucil dent to assembly and so that the tongue 2i or other portions of the abutting surfaces will not be damaged as an incident to assembly. 1 u

In many instances this type of burial vault is lburied inthe ground and covered with'a 'considerable depth of earth which is of vrelatively great weightfand which must be supported by the cover part of the vault. To provide a rela-- tively light weight vault capable of withstanding the pressure due to such a load of Amaterials or earth, I have shown the cover -I2 .ofa slablike type and in part molded of concrete to the cross-sectional form of an arch or so that the thickness of the rigid material of the cover, such as the concrete, is at any point proportional to the distance of that point ,from the nearest supportin surface.

In and tially centrally located and is located at the greatlest distance from the supporting surfaces or abutting edges 22, is relatively thin and the thicknesso! the cover increases toward the nearest support or in both directions from the point if and in accordance with' the distribution of stresses in the cover under load.l

In the present embodiment a surface 32 of the supportv element 24 or supporting web forms a s the foregoing description, and it will be apparentthat various changes may be made in the form, construction, and arrangement of the parts with- 'out departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, Vor sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being -merely a preferred embbdiment thereof',r

I claim: o 1.' A burial vault comprisingfa base member and a cover member therefor; said members having edge portionsarranged to register upon assembly and to form a sealed joint, the cover'.

member 4including a concrete portion of slab-'50 like form extending between and terminating at the edge portions of. the cover, the thickness Iof said slab-like portion vbeing varied inversely pro- `portional to the increase in distance fromthe \continuation of the inner surface ofthe cover i2. l

guide element integral with said cover member whereby the base and cover members are registered as an incident to assembly. 4,

2. A burial vault comprising, a. base member, and a cover member therefor, said members hav-'- ing edge portions arranged to register upon assembly, the cover member including a concrete portion of slab-likeform extending between and terminating adjacent the edge portions thereof,

the thickness of said slab-like portion being varied in accordance with the distribution of stresses thereon in use, and marginally disposed integral support means lon said cover and extending beyond the edge portion thereof whereby the cover` is guided into register with the base as an incident to assembly and whereby the cover may be supported independently.

3. A burial vault comprising, a base member and a. cover member, each having coordinated -registry of the cover member with the base member as an incident to assembly thereof.

WILBERT W. HAASE. 

